Geriatric Medicine

Condition or Disorder	Intervention vs. Control	Outcome	Follow-up Duration	Event Rates %		NNT (95% CI)
				CER	EER
Nonvertebral fractures in community living elderly persons1	Calcium and Vitamin D Supplementation vs.placebo	Nonvertebral fractures	3 years	13	6	15 (8 to 12)
Nonvertebral fractures and bone loss2	Calcium and vitamin D vs.placebo	Nonvertebral fractures	3 years	13	6	15 (8 to 12)
Alzheimer disease3	Donepezil vs.placebo	Nausea	12 weeks	8	22	8 (5 to 17)
		Insomnia		5	18	9 (6 to 18)
		Diarrhea		3	13	10 (6 to 20)
Non-vertebral fractures and bone loss in the elderly4	Elemental calcium+vitamin D vs. placebo	Non-vertebral fractures verified by radiographs or hospital records	3 years	12.9	5.9	15 (8 to 12)
Hip fractures in nursing home patients55	External hip protectors vs. control(no hip protector)	Hip fracture	1 month	7.4	3.2	24 (13 to 183)
New fractures in postmenopausal women who had low bone-mineral density and existing vertebral fractures6	Alendronate sodium vs. placebo	New vertebral fractures confirmed by radiography	3 years	< 75 years of age: 13	< 75 years of age: 6	< 75 years of age: 15 (11 to 27)
				≥75 years of age: 18	≥75 years of age: 11	≥75 years of age: 15 (8 to 21)
Postmenopausal77	Alendronate sodium vs. placebo	≥1 day of bed rest	3 years	15	11	23 (15 to 56)
		≥7 days of bed rest		9	4	21 (17 to 32)
		≥7 days of limited activity		44	41	23 (12 to 308)
Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis8	Oral risedronate vs. placebo	New vertebral fractures	3 years	16	11	20 (11 to 111)
		Non-vertebral fractures		8	5	32 (17 to 250)
Residents in nursing homes9	Pharmacist medication review vs. no review	Deaths from 5 to 8 months (intervention phase)	8 months	9	4	17 (9 to 213)
Hip fracture patients with mild to moderate dementia10	Intensive geriatric rehabilitation (advice, training, drug treatment, physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy) vs. control group (discharge to a local hospital)	Independent living at 3 months-mild dementia	1 year	67	91	5 (3 to 16)
		Independent living at 3 months -moderate dementia	1 year	17	63	3 (2 to 9)
Vertebral fractures in men with osteoporosis11	Alendronate vs. placebo	Incidence of vertebral fractures	2 years	7	1	16 (7 to 56)

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1. N Engl J Med 1997; 337:670-6 
2. N Engl J Med 1997 Sep 4;337(10):670-6 
3. Arch Intern Med 1998 May 11;158(9):1021-31 
4. N Engl J Med. 4 Sept 1997; 337: 670-6 
5. Lancet. 2 Jan 1993; 341: 11-3 
6. Arch Intern Med. 8/22 Dec 1997; 157: 2617-24 
7. Arch Intern Med. Jan 10, 2000; 160: 77-85 
8. JAMA. Oct 13, 1999; 282: 1344-52 
9. Br J Psychiatry. Jun 2000; 176: 563-7 
10. BMJ. Nov 4, 2000; 321: 1107-11 
11. N Engl J Med. Aug 31 2000: 343: 604-10